Crowdfunding For Movies – The Dawn Of A New Era

With an increasing number of amateur and novice filmmakers breaking through into the world of production, the field is becoming more and more competitive with every passing second. As a result of this rapid growth, it is harder for directors to make it in the industry as professionals. With so much talent to choose from, big production companies are spoilt for choice in terms of which directors and producers to hire.

So where does that leave aspiring filmmakers?

They’re left with no option but to self-fund their productions in order to establish themselves. This way, they’ll have the best chance of being picked up by a larger production company and making it to the big leagues. But these days, money is scarce, and directors are suffering financially along with everyone else.

So where do they turn to gather a budget? To the ever-growing art of crowdfunding. If they don’t have the means to bring their story to life, crowdfunding is the next logical step.

How does Ketto come into the picture?

Ketto is a crowdfunding platform where these aspiring filmmakers can set up their own crowdfunding page to fund their creative projects, be it a film, documentary or a play. Actively becoming one of the popular methods of getting funds, crowdfunding is a great option for up-and-coming directors and filmmakers; a great place to generate some funds.

Here are projects of filmmakers that were funded on Ketto:

• Fighting on Ice – Campaigner Mithun Bajaj wanted to create a documentary that highlights the passions and struggles of the Indian Ice Hockey team and association. Through his piece, he wanted to showcase how they are playing their tournaments without any support or help from the government and how they are playing in tournaments with passable equipment and little to no funding, hoping for a day when ice hockey will be treated as a real sport in India. Through his fundraiser page on Ketto, not only did he raise Rs.4,85,945 thorough 19 supporters, he also raised awareness about this very little known sport in our country.

• Who Am I: After they visited the Pakistani Hindu refugees camps in Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, a start up film production house called P2P Productions wanted to become the global voice of their condition. They wanted to create a documentary to highlight the plight of these refugees, who fled religious persecution in Pakistan, only to struggle for basic amenities while living in camps. With interesting rewards like personalised merchandise, a chance to get featured in their exclusive promotional video, accreditation as associate producers & co-producers, their crowdfunding page on Ketto got support from 260 supporters, helping them raise a whopping amount Rs. 9,79,485.

• Khamma Gir Ne: This is a documentary which shows how man and beast have learned to co-exist in Gujarat. Shot in Gir sanctuary and the Gir National Park, the documentary captures the challenges, emotions and unrest in Gir amid the long-time process of conservation and preservation of the last sanctuary of the Asiatic Lion. Via their crowdfunding page on Ketto, the documentary team was able to raise Rs.1, 55,210 through their 54 supporters.

Another project Rewire raised funds for a social documentary that sought to create awareness about mental illness, especially in the context of the Indian society. The project was able to raise Rs. 83,900 via 16 supporters. Boojh documents the journey of Satish, a double amputee, who seeks to ride across the country on his bike, covering a distance of 50,000 kms in order to enter the Guinness and Limca book of world records. The film-makers were able to raise Rs. 68,300 via 17 supporters through their crowdfunding page on Ketto.

Hundreds of directors and producers are adapting to new trends in the industry and are giving crowdfunding a go and they certainly aren’t let down by the results. A lot of them are prospering and producing quality movies from the funds that they raise. All of these documentaries have received substantial donations and have ended up with a much bigger budget than they would have had trying to fund production through their income. It’s no wonder that crowdfunding in the filmmaking industry is becoming popular; the directors are getting some spectacular results!

So there you have it, if you’re a director or producer who is looking to raise funds to produce your movie, then look no further – crowdfunding is here to take your creative piece to the masses!